Mental health for U.S. children has declined before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic — a substantial break in a trend that has long shown this age group generally reports feelings of happiness and well-being, according to a report in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.Children under 18 years reported a slow, steady climb in anxiety and depression from 2016 to 2022. In contrast, incidents of physical health problems, such as asthma, severe headache or migraine, and heart conditions declined or ...read more

Denver, Colorado became the first U.S. city to decriminalize psilocybin — a chemical found in “magic mushrooms” — in May of 2019. Since then, usage across the U.S. has bloomed significantly. Often known for a hallucinogenic effect, many people have started using psilocybin as a mental health and pain treatment. A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine examines the increase in psilocybin consumption along with the benefits and risks of taking it. “We found that since 20 ...read more

Scientists have gradually shifted their stance on lucid dreams (LD) — the ability to know that you are dreaming and even controlling your fate within that dream state.Many were initially skeptical when, in the 1970s, Stanford psychophysiologist Stephen LaBerge proposed the concept. Psychologists slowly came around, conducting research and tapping into patients’ lucid dreaming capacity for therapeutic purposes.Now, a team of neuroscientists has collected and analyzed the largest known set of ...read more

In February 2025, police found actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, dead in their California home. Authorities now believe that Arakawa died from an infection. Hackman, who had dementia, appeared to have died a week later from an inability to care for himself. Hackman was one of many Americans living with memory loss. Currently, almost 7 million Americans ages 65 and older are living with dementia. The number is predicted to almost double by 2060 while the amount of available caregiv ...read more

Paleontologists in Argentina recently found the first unambiguous evidence that a group of theropod dinosaurs had hollow bones capable of holding air sacs – an ability that helps birds fly, according to a study published in PLOS One.The discovery adds to a growing body of research that has revealed that all theropods and sauropods may have had bones with air sacs.“This is one feature that they inherited [from a common ancestor],” says Guillermo Windholz, a paleontologist at Argentina’s N ...read more

Key Takeaways on Suni Williams: Sunita, “Suni,” Williams was born in Ohio in 1965 and has an extensive career in space. During her first outing on the International Space Station (ISS), she set many new records for women in space. With her recent over-extended stay on the ISS, Suni Williams has spent a total of 608 days in space, the second-longest stay amongst American astronauts.After nine-months stranded on the International Space Station (ISS), Sunita, “Suni,” Williams touched down w ...read more

When NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams inadvertently spent nearly nine months in space, their bodies likely underwent a series of physiological changes due to the pressures of living in space.The duo left Earth on June 5, 2024, in what was supposed to be a roughly weeklong test mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Instead, they spent 286 days waiting to hitch a ride back to their home planet after their spacecraft experienced multiple issues.Upon their arrival on Earth ...read more

Thorin was the name given to a Neanderthal specimen found amongst a small group of Neanderthals that lived between 42,000 years and 52,000 years ago in the Grotte Mandrin, a cave located in southern France. According to a 2024 study in Cell Genomics, Thorin was a Neanderthal found in Eurasia, and he’s genetically similar to the Gibraltar Neanderthals, who lived across the continent. Thorin was an adult male, identified through 30 fossilized teeth and bones, and buried at the mouth of the cave ...read more

In 2002, divers in Lake Huron were swimming among the shipwrecks in the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The sanctuary protects the remains of almost 100 ships that met their demise when trying to navigate through “shipwreck alley.”The divers saw the usual sunken schooner. The overturned steamer. The remains of the tugboat. But there was something else. There appeared to be a massive sinkhole near Middle Island, about a mile off the coast of Michigan.Scientists sent down a remotely ope ...read more

Living longer, healthier, and happier lives is a priority for many people. Oftentimes, we look to the food we eat as a way to optimize our well-being and extend our lifespans.As fad diets and supplement trends come and go, one dietary recommendation that seems to remain constant is adding more plant-based foods into your daily meals. There has long been an association between animal-based products, especially of the processed variety, and increased health risks. Specifically, sourcing the majori ...read more